LAW 1079 v00
:
Child Welfare Law and Practice in the District of Columbia

Last edit: Tue, 30 Jan 2018 16:28:19 GMT

Druthers submitted by: jrb298

Semester

Fall

Division

JD Adjunct

Instructors

UserID

Name

Email

jrb298

Breslow, Julie

Julie.Breslow@dcsc.gov

Course

LAW 1079 v00: Child Welfare Law and Practice in the District of Columbia

Title

Child Welfare Law and Practice in the District of Columbia

Would you like to teach in the day or evening?

What is the class length? (i.e. 85 minutes)

If you have strong preferences for teaching times/days, please note them here.

Are there any times/days that you absolutely cannot teach next year?

Please note any special needs we should take into account when assigning your classroom, such as use of technology.

Enrollment Limit:

List the final course requirement for this course.

Days and Times:

Th 5:45-7:45p

Proposed Dates (mini-courses only):

Enrollment Limit:

10

Final Course Requirement:

Paper and Special Requirement

Assessment types:

Describe “Other”:

Learning Objectives:

Home Program

J.D.

Is Crosslisted:

No

Course Type

Practicum

Course Credits

4

Practicum Type

Fieldwork

Course Description:

In fieldwork practicum courses, students participate in weekly seminars and conduct related fieldwork at outside organizations. This practicum course will focus on the workings of the child welfare system in the District of Columbia. Students will participate in a two hour/week seminar and also undertake 10 hours/week of fieldwork at a child welfare-related organization.

SEMINAR: Students will study Supreme Court and District of Columbia cases defining the fundamental nature of the parent/child relationship and setting forth when state intervention is warranted to protect the best interests of the child. Students will gain an understanding of the various stages of child protection proceedings and the different roles, responsibilities and professional relationships of the attorneys representing the government, the child and the parents at each stage. Issues concerning interracial and gay adoption will be discussed, as will the overrepresentation of poor and minority youth in the child welfare system. Students will give an in-class presentation on a topic of their choosing, and will write a final paper.

FIELDWORK: Students will participate in fieldwork with a child welfare-related organization and share their experiences with the class and through written reflection memos. Some fieldwork sites require students to undergo police/background clearances, and others do not. If this is a concern for a student, he/she should reach out to the professor before the beginning of the semester to discuss field placement options.

Prerequisite Courses:

J.D. students must complete the required first-year program prior to enrolling in this course (part-time and interdivisional transfer students may enroll prior to completing Criminal Justice, Property, or their first-year elective.)

Strongly Recommended Courses:

Recommended Courses:

Mutually Exclusive Courses:

Students may not receive credit for this course and Child Abuse and Neglect Law Seminar.

Students may not concurrently enroll in this practicum and an externship or a clinic or another practicum course.

Additional Course Notes:

This practicum course is open to LL.M. students, space permitting. Interested LL.M. students should email Louis Fine (fine@law.georgetown.edu) to request admission.

This course is suitable for evening students who can commit to attending class and working 10 hours/week (during business hours) on site at their field placements.

This is a four credit course. Two credits will be awarded for the two-hour weekly seminar and two credits for approximately 10 hours of fieldwork per week, for a minimum of 11 weeks, to be scheduled with the faculty. The fieldwork must be completed during normal business hours. The two credit seminar portion of this practicum will be graded. The two credits of fieldwork are mandatory pass/fail. Students will be allowed to take another course pass/fail in the same semester as the field work.

Students who enroll in this course will be automatically enrolled in both the seminar and fieldwork components and may not take either component separately. After Add/Drop, a student who wishes to withdraw from a practicum course must obtain permission from the faculty member and the Assistant Dean for Experiential Education. The Assistant Dean will grant such withdrawal requests only when remaining enrolled in the practicum would cause significant hardship for the student. A student who is granted permission to withdraw will be withdrawn from both the seminar and fieldwork components.

Default attendance rule for all practicum courses (unless the professor indicates otherwise): Regular and punctual attendance is required at all practicum seminars and fieldwork placements. Students in project-based practicum courses are similarly required to devote the requisite number of hours to their project. If a student must miss seminar, fieldwork, or project work, he or she must speak to the professor as soon as possible to discuss the absence. Unless the professor indicates otherwise, a student with more than one unexcused absence from the practicum seminar (out of 13 total seminar sessions), or one week of unexcused absences from the fieldwork or project work (out of a total of 11 weeks of fieldwork or project work), may receive a lower grade or, at the professor’s discretion, may be withdrawn from the practicum course.

Would you like to offer the Pass/Fail grading option?

Course Withdrawal Deadline:

Does this course qualify as a "simulation course"?

Is this course available to distance students?

Is this a mandatory Pass-Fail course?

Please provide any additional information that you would like us to take into account in constructing your schedule.

Personal Information

Name

Address

Email

Phone

Job Title(s)

Bio for Julie Breslow

Julie Breslow was appointed as a magistrate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 2002 and has been assigned to a child welfare calendar her entire time on the bench. Magistrate Judge Breslow’s case load consists of neglect cases and any other family court cases which involve the families on her neglect case load, including adoptions, guardianships, juvenile delinquency matters and domestic relations cases. Magistrate Judge Breslow presides over all D.C. neglect matters involving unaccompanied refugee minors in foster care, and has a particular interest in the intersection of family law and immigration law. Before joining the Superior Court, Magistrate Judge Breslow served as the Chief of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Victims’ Rights Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, and the Director of the Court Services Unit for the Office of the General Receiver, D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. She spent five years as a trial attorney at the District of Columbia Office of the Corporation Counsel (now the Attorney General’s Office) in the child abuse and neglect section, the juvenile delinquency section, and the child support enforcement section.